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The WB Classics
The WB Classics 'is an American digital multicast television network that is owned as a joint venture between WarnerMedia and by Dorado Media. The network's programming consists of classic television series from the 1990s to the 2000s, most of which are sourced from the content library of Warner Brothers Entertainment. The network principally aired programs targeting teenagers and young adults between the ages of 13 and 34. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to shut down the network and launch The CW later that same year. Time Warner re-used The WB brand for an online network that launched on April 28, 2008, about 18 months after The WB Television Network ceased broadcasting operations. Until it was discontinued in December 2013, the website allowed users to watch shows aired on the former television network, as well as original programming and shows formerly hosted on the now-defunct In2TV service (which itself was created prior to Time Warner's spinoff of AOL). The website could only be accessed within the United States. History The final night of WB programming netted relatively low ratings. The network scored a 1.0 household rating (amounting to 1% of all U.S. television households) and a share of 2, meaning just 2% of viewers were tuned into The WB on its final night of programming. This is mostly due to the fact that some WB affiliates in certain areas had already joined MyNetworkTV, which debuted on September 5, two weeks before The CW's launch, leaving The WB's final two weeks of programming unavailable in those areas. After its closure, the network's URLs were redirected to The CW's website. Warner Bros.' television arm planned on resurrecting The WB brand in the form of a website at TheWB.com, the website domain used for the official site of the broadcast network. The site streamed episodes of series that were broadcast during The WB Television Network's 1995–2006 run, including ''Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Everwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, Roswell and What I Like About You. The new incarnation of the TheWB.com began in beta testing on April 28, 2008, and officially launched on August 27. The site – whose business model resembled that of free-to-stream services such as Hulu – was ad-supported and geared primarily to women ages 15–39. In addition to older full-length series (among which also included All of Us, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Martin, Jack & Bobby and Veronica Mars), the website featured original serialized web content including short series and vignettes from such well-known television producers as Josh Schwartz and McG, including Sorority Forever, Pushed, Rockville, CA, The Lake and Children's Hospital (the latter's popularity was sustained enough to receive a run and eventual move to cable television as a regular series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim). Each of these 10-episode programs ran for five minutes. Many other well-known Warner Bros.-produced series that did not air on The WB Television Network, including Friends and The O.C., were also made available on the site. However, the website did not include episodes of two of The WB's most popular shows, Charmed and Felicity, as the distribution rights to Charmed are owned by 20th Century Fox Television (via 20th Television) and CBS Television Distribution and Felicity's rights are owned by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Comcast offers over 1,000 episodes from the Warner Bros. Television library on its video on demand service. While Warner Bros. Entertainment did not promote the site in any multimedia ads, it had drawn about 250,000 unique viewers a month, according to MindShare's Mr. Chapman, who had been tracking the site. Some of its original material had been offered on partner sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Data compiled by comScore Video Metrix showed that 62% of visitors to the site were female. '''Launch of ''Classics'' The network was launched on August 21, 2015, initially debuting on many different subchannels on stations across the United States. However, on April 17, 2017, the former CEO of QTV Inc and its predecessors had sold the QTV television network and its properties to Dorado Media, which included The WB Classics. Dorado Media announced that it would take the WB Classics concept national and turn it into a network available to any station that wished to affiliate. As a result, The WB Classics would compete fully with MeTV, Cozi TV, and Antenna TV, while complementing successful Time Warner-owned sister networks The WB Television Network, New Line Network, TBS, and TNT, and Dorado-owned sister network The ACME Television Network. The new network would carry library product from Warner Brothers, including former production companies that were acquired by Warners. Affiliate distribution Like its predecessors, The WB Classics does not have owned-and-operated stations. However, since the ACME Television Network is owned by Dorado Media, the company signed affiliation agreements for the network to be launched on its ACME stations. Category:Fictional television networks Category:Time Warner Category:Fictional television network Category:Subchannel Category:Dorado Media Category:WarnerMedia